Innovation ecosystems

The word ecosystem conjures up a rain forest in Ecuador, where sunlight, soil, water, and a multitude of species exist together in a self-sustaining environment that is constantly evolving. This image from biology translates perfectly into what many people like to call an innovation ecosystem.

From April 2017 issue of Seattle Business magazine: Seattle and the UW aim to transform the U District into an innovation zone. Think of it as an urban Silicon Valley. Vikram Jandhyala sees Seattle’s University District evolving into an “innovation district” — a place where public and private sectors work together to develop socially beneficial…

Western Washington is already home to some of the most innovative people, companies, and academic programs in the world. And yet we should be doing much more to connect and support our local innovators, to attract more agents of change to the region, and to help them develop big new things.

The Seattle region’s technology landscape was in the spotlight in Davos, Switzerland, where top corporate executives and global leaders were gathered for the World Economic Forum. Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, cited the UW in an example of the connection between leading universities and innovation ecosystems.

In the modern era, universities have taken on the role of innovative “sandbox,” fostering an explosion of research and discovery at a scale never seen before in human history, according to an article by Margaret O’Mara, associate professor of history at the UW.